Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-11-26
THE MoRMONS.

Shall They He Allowed . State Govern
ment in Utah:
Especial Correspoudencel
SALT LAKE CIrY, Nov. 2.-The Mormous
have done the United States the high honor
Of proposing treaty, or, rather, . bargain.
Put in plain EngliSh, tAisis their proposition .
I'VE have been violating the anti-polygamy
law of 1862 for twenty five years because We
believe the Almighty commanded US to take
extra wives, and the government for long
time made % serious opposition, but now the
government is putting our best men in tts
penitentiary; Therefore, il the United States
congress viii admit Utah as . state, We win
disobey the Law of God as We understand n
and abolish polysamy, putting prohibitory
clause in our state constitution. In other
words, dearly beloved, we will be good IL
you will be kind and let US have our own way
in all other mattersn It is definitely pro-
posed that a great government shall stoop
from its dignity and make q bargain with
men who begin with an acknowledgment that
they have violated the law heretofore. The
proposition that the Mormons shall abolish
polygamy first and ask for statehood after
ward is repudiated with scorn.
II b scarcely necessary to point out the oh.
vious fact that the state Of Utah, once in the
Union, could alter its constitution at will, or
its legislature ignore the anti polygamy clause.
The proposition gives US the right to examine
Mormon history to determine whether they
are sincere. By their own account they be-
gan the practice Of polgamy in Nsuvoo, Il
hnois. in 1913, pursuant to Z revelation given
on the 18th Of July of that year, and about the
same time they commenced denying the prac-
tice and dennncing it in their publications
On the LIST Ct February, ls44, the heads Of
the church published in The Times and Sea-
sons. church organ at Nauvoo, an official de
nunciation Of polgamy. On the 18th Of
March following, q still stronger denial was
published In July, lS45, a specific denial
was issued in The Millennial Star. the Nor
mon paper in Liverpool, England. In May,
1875, the same organ repeated the denial. In
the meantime the Mormons had been driven
from Nauvoo; Col tsince Gem Thomas
L. Kane, brother Of the arctic explorer trav-
eled with them in Iowa, and was the guest Of
Brigham Young, who solemnly assured him
that the charge Of polygamy was a vile
SANDER Col Kane certified this to the
government and American people; President
Fillmore accepted his testimony as correct
and appointed Brigham Young governor Of
Utah. In July, 1850, Elder John Taylor.
since president Of the Mormon church, off,
cially denied and denounced polygamy in
France About the same time the Mormon
elders revised and published the Doctrine
and Covenantsr-their official discipline-in
which they inserted . clause denouncing and
forbidding plurality Of wives AL the mis-
sionaries were instructed to deny the doc
trine and practice, and did % in England
with the most solemn oatha For nine years
-ls4S to ls52-these Official denials con-
ttnued The Aormons now freely admit that
they told and published these falsehoods to
deceive the American people and secure full
control Of the territory, and that a perse-
cpted people 10 justified in lying to deceive
the GeutilesL How can We believe their
present promissi But polygamy is only one
reason, and not the greatest, against admit
ting Ut~h; the real evil, the distinctively un-
American evil, is the theocracy which con-
trols - territory. The Mormons have de-
clnred Q thousand times that they do not
want and will not have an American de-
mocracy; they want ''the kingdom of God,
administered by his prophets, priests and
apostles.n And tbeocsstic despotism is one
Of the things the American people are deter
mined not to have sst up anywhere in this
nation. J. B. PARKE